I receive many questions regarding day-to-day eating habits for losing fat and building muscle. So I decided to write a short blog on some of the basics. But then it turned into a long blog (Sorry!)…Some (or all) of this may be repetitive to some of you, so I apologize for that. But for those who are trying to start a new healthy life and don't know where to begin, this is for you!

II. Each meal should consist of complex carbohydrates, lean protein, healthy fats, and a fruit/vegetable.

2.1 - Carb Digestion (ACSM, 2007)

When carbs are digested, they are converted into glucose, and absorbed into the bloodstream. This induces a rise in blood-glucose levels and initiates the release of insulin into the blood. Insulin allows glucose to be converted into glycogen for stored energy in the liver and in muscles. However, when muscles and the liver are full of glycogen, remaining blood-glucose is converted to fat and stored. Therefore, you should be avoiding frequent, large spikes in blood-glucose throughout the day.

The use of glycogen as energy also spares muscle protein from being used as energy.

2.2 - Simple vs. Complex Carbohydrates (ACSM, 2007)

Simple carbohydrates are made up of one or two sugar units (saccharides or disaccharides). Because of their simple structure, they are quickly converted into glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream, resulting in large, rapid spikes in blood glucose and insulin. High levels of blood glucose and insulin can lead to a variety of health issues, including excess fat storage.

Complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides) are made up of at least three sugar units. Because of their complex structures, they require a longer period of time for digestion and conversion into glucose. Therefore, they increase blood-glucose levels more slowly, avoid large insulin spikes, and storage of excess glycogen as fat.

With the use of the glycemic index, you can easily differentiate between carbs that increase blood-glucose levels quickly or slowly. Carbs are compared with the ingestion of glucose, which has a glycemic value of 100. Therefore, carbs that cause quick rises in blood-glucose have a high-glycemic index, whereas, carbs that cause slow rises in blood-glucose have a low-glycemic index.

Common foods with a high-glycemic index (GI ≥ 70) are:

Baked potato - 85

Sugar - 70

White Bread – 70

White Rice – 75

Corn - 70

Cooked carrots – 85

Bagels – 72

Honey - 85

Common foods with medium-glycemic index (56 ≤ GI ≤ 69):

Oatmeal - 58

Raisins - 64

Common foods witih low-glycemic index (GI ≤ 55):

Orange juice - 50

Black Beans, cooked - 20

Banana, ripe - 52

Apple – 38

Grapes - 46

Sweet Potato - 50

Peach - 30

Brown rice - 50

Cherries - 22

Kidney, navy beans – 40

Stone Ground Whole Wheat – 53

Whole wheat pasta – 50

Rye bread – 40

Pumpernickel bread - 40

English muffin, whole grain - 45

Split peas – 22

Yams - 37

Chickpeas - 28

Lentils, boiled - 30

Raw Carrots - 30

Broccoli - 10

Spinach - 10

Cabbage - 10

Lettuce - 10

Mushrooms - 10

Peanuts - 15

Walnuts - 15

For your carbohydrate choice, stick to complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, that are have a medium to low-glycemic index. There are plenty of options, no excuses!

2.3 – Protein

Proteins are complex compounds made of various amino acids and play many roles in the body, such as (ACSM, 2000; Manore and Thompson, 2000):

Polyunsaturated fatty acids play a role in lowering cholesterol in the blood. The most popular examples of polyunsaturated fatty acids are linolenic acid (omega-3), linoleic acid (omega-6), and oleic acid (omega-9). Since the human body cannot synthesize omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, they are considered "essential" and can only be obtained through one's diet. Omega-9 fatty acids are synthesized in the body, but only in limited amounts. Therefore, a diet with omega-9 fatty acids is also necessary. These fatty acids play a vital role in supporting MANY systems in the body, such as the immune (Calder, 1999), nervous (Alessandri et al., 2004) and cardiovascular system (Richard et al., 2009). Omega-3 deficiencies have been linked to increased LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, excessive inflammatory factors throughout the body, hypertension, depression and Alzheimer’s Disease (Alessandri et al., 2004; Calder, 1999; Richard et al., 2009).

The research on this section is pretty interesting. A common rule of thumb is that just by eating smaller portions, you can increase your metabolism and lose more weight. However, once you look into the research, this isn’t the case. In fact, a very recent review paper on this subject discusses this very issue. While there are lower peaks in perceived appetite, satiety, glucose, and insulin with greater meal frequency, the total values of these parameters throughout remain unchanged (Leidy and Campbell, 2011). So simply eating smaller, more frequent meals is not enough.The type of foods in these meals is of the utmost importance. Additionally, high-protein meals facilitate fat loss and weight maintenance more effectively than high-carbohydrate meals (Claessens et al., 2009; Clifton et al., 2009). So to reiterate, each meal should consist of lean protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and a fruit/vegetable, and should be eaten every 3-4 hours. This allows you to take advantage of the lowered peaks in perceived appetite, satiety, glucose, and insulin throughout the day while earning the weight loss and health benefits of these eating habits.

One of the major roles of water in the body is to carry nutrients to cells and carry waste away from cells. All of our lean tissue consists of 70% water. However, we constantly lose water through breathing, urination, bowel movements, sweating, and even through the skin when there is no sign of sweat (ACSM, 2000; Williams, 2002). Therefore, it is very important for you, especially athletes and active individuals, to replenish these fluids throughout the day. Some benefits of being hydrated during exercise include (Manore and Thompson, 2000):

1. Less dramatic increase in heart rate or core body temperature

2. Improved skin blood flow

3. Reduction in net muscle glycogen use --> more endurance

Here are a couple of other tips (ACSM, 2000; Horswill, 1998):

1. Don't use thirst as a signal to drink water - this signal occurs after 1-2 liters of fluid in the body has already been lost.

2. Spread it out throughout the day - drinking large volumes in a short period of time can cause gastrointestinal distress and affect exercise performance

First, it is important to know that everyone's caloric requirements are different! Factors such as genetics, age, gender, and weight all play a role in an individual’s requirements. So, just because your girlfriend lost weight on some X-calorie diet does not mean it will work for you. You need to know how know how many calories your body needs to maintain your current body weight. One of the most common methods for finding this value is the use of the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) formula.

An individual's BMR represents the amount of energy expended by the body in one day if you didn't move at all. For fat loss and maintaining a lean body, you’d like your BMR to be as high as possible. Here's the formula:

The result of this equation will give you the number of calories your body needs to maintain your current body weight. If you want to lose fat, reduce this value by 500-1000 calories. For those with only a small amount of fat to lose, your caloric deficit should be closer to 500 calories. Extreme caloric deficits are NOT the way to go! Starvation and extreme caloric deficits can lower your BMR. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that daily caloric intake should be no lower than 1200 calories in women and 1800 calories in men. However, this doesn’t mean you should be aiming for this low values.

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comments:

Dr. Nina,How would you rate Agave Nectar's usage in comparison to sugar or honey? I put either sugar or honey in my tea, but now I see they rate high on the glycemic index. I also read that Splenda is bad (which I used to use instead of sugar or honey)so I'm looking for the best alternative.Tiff

Hey doc, I am new to this. Can you tell me if I am headed in the right direction. 6ft.1in tall 235 lbs and 55 years old. I have been eating this type of foods for the last few weeks. I habve a peice of lean chicken and 12 onc. whey protein after my p90x workout. Then 2 hours later I have a bowl of special k almonds. 1,5 later I have an orange. Lunch i have a can of 100 cal. soup . Afternoon another orangwe and later almonds.Dinner I eat a salad with chicken or I will actually eat 1 lb of aspargis with almonds for dinner only. What am I doing right and or wrong. I sontimes do the stair climber 2 nights extra dfor 1 hour a week.Thanks

I disagree with your friend. Unfortunately, many people have this misconception. The truth is, the diet that the animals were on plays a major factor in the quality of meat. Let's take beef for example. Cattle in some farms are purposely overfed with grain and injected with hormones or steroids to make them bigger and bring in more profit. This strategy negatively affects the quality of meat, providing an unhealthy ratio of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids.

Meat from grass fed cattle that are not injected with hormones or steroids are perfectly healthy. This difference holds true with chicken as well.

For fish, wild caught fish are much healthier than farm raised, because some farms also overfeed fish with grain, causing an unhealthy omega 3/omega 6 ratio. Wild caught salmon is loaded with high quality fat, which IS good for you.

Honestly, the biggest culprit behind clogged arteries is a diet high in processed foods and simple carbs. High-quality animal fats are good for you.

I did the equation and my caloric intake should be 1190.2 calories when I'm not doing much exercise, but you say not to go lower than 1200 calories and I need to lose a lot of fat, and you also said to lower that number 500-1000, and that would put me way below 1200, what should I do?

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